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SUZANNE TRUMAN
“All spring, I watched the rising blue-green grass, above it’s gleaming and substantial shadows, toss in the breeze, like wings.” ---- Mary Oliver
My work is concerned with rhythm, pattern, series and structure, and interpreting colors and textures from nature - and from objects eroded and decayed by nature - onto constructed surfaces in a complex minimal layering of oil paint with wax medium or encaustic paint. My larger paintings are on canvas, while my series are painted on handmade wooden boxes with deep sides, arranged on the wall in series of three to twenty sets. Sometimes l place an individual box/painting alone on a large wall to magnify the impression of the painting as an object. Recently, I have been working in larger series of paintings that mimic elements of things I have collected, including maps, graphs, diagrams, metal grids, sticks, grasses, stones, weathered plaid fabric, and images of water ripples, flocks of birds, moving clouds, and wind-waved fields of grass. My interests in traveling and mid-century modern design also inform my work. However, my paintings are most influenced by the strong sense of place I feel in the wide open spaces of American West. The exterior landscape thus fuels my interior landscape.
While painting, I strive to use the elements of an additive and subtractive process in a harmonious way to evoke a metaphorical sense of place. As the surface evolves, I sand, scrape and scribe back into the painted strata. By intuitively responding to emerging colors, patterns, and textures, my intent is to reveal minimal abstractions suggestive of the cumulative effects of natural events that shape the land, and objects therein, over time. For me, these paintings serve as essences of “place” that can not be explicitly represented. In turn, I hope they stir the “interior landscape” of the viewer and inspire their own sense of visual exploration.
BACKGROUND INFO:
Suzanne Truman was born In Phoenix, Arizona; raised on farms and ranches in Arizona and California until her Family moved to Kentucky when she was 15. She returned west after attending a year at The University of Kentucky. She worked in Yellowstone National Park and lived in Hawaii for three years before migrating to the Rocky Mountains to finish her art degree in Bozeman. From there Suzanne moved to Missoula, Montana to complete her MFA, in painting. After graduate school she taught backcountry field courses in Alaska and along the Rio Grande and Big Bend National Park for two years. She went on to teach painting and drawing at The University of Montana-Western and Montana State University for the next seven years. Presently, Suzanne lives with her husband and their cat in Bozeman, Montana. The open west, and a sense of place, continue to strongly influence her paintings.
EDUCATION:
1996, MFA Painting, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 1992, BA with honors in Printmaking, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2007 Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 2006 Bealle Park Art Center, (Peppo’s sculpture in N. gallery), Bozeman, MT 2005 Oil & Encaustic Paintings”, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 2004 “Featured Artist”, Stellers Gallery, Jacksonville, FL 2003 “12 New Paintings”, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 2002 “Oils and Encaustics”, The Pound Gallery, Seattle, WA 2001 “New Paintings”, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 2000 “New Oil Paintings, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 1999 “Dichotomy”, Hockaday Art Museum”, Kalispell, MT “Art on Site”, Hockaday Art Museum sponsored, Columbia Falls, MT 1998 Cordell Taylor Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT 1997 “Walking & Falling”, University Center Gallery, Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT 1996 “Mixed Metaphors”, thesis show, Gallery of Visual Art, UM-Missoula, MT 1995 “Second to the Last Judgment”, Art Annex Gallery, UM-Missoula, MT “Drowning In Flame”, The Crystal Theater, Missoula, MT 1994 “Food For Thought”, Food For Thought Café, Missoula, MT 1992 “Manipulated Polaroids”, The Valley, Ellensburg, WA 1991 “Manipulated Polaroids”, The Exit Gallery, MSU-Bozeman, MT
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2009 “14th Annual Los Angeles Art Show”, w/Stewart Gallery, Los Angeles, CA The Cerulean Gallery, (main floor w/Ralph Wiegmann), opens May 15th, Dallas, TX Missoula Art Museum, contemporary art auction, Missoula, MT Fay Gold Gallery, gallery representation until gallery closed 3/31/09, Atlanta, GA 2008 Missoula Art Museum, “Encaustics Invitational”, 6 artists, Missoula, MT The Cerulean Gallery, (main floor gallery w/Xan Sinclaire) “Inner Section”, Dallas, TX Fay Gold Gallery, “Gallery Artists”, summer exhibition, Atlanta, GA Stewart Gallery, “Summer Exhibition”, Boise, ID Turman-Larison Contemporary, w/Tom Ferris and Jim Madden, Helena, MT “Contemporary Montana Artists of the Waller-Yoblonsky Collection”, in conjunction with a Museum of the Rockies lecture; ShackUp Design, Bozeman, MT Stewart Gallery, “Winter Exhibition”, Boise, ID Gallery representation, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, MT 2007 “Art Now”, Art Fair, with Stewart Gallery, Miami Beach, FL “Affair at the Jupiter”, Jupiter Hotel Art Fair, w/Stewart Gallery, Portland, OR Fay Gold Gallery, winter group exhibition, Atlanta, GA UM-Western Art Museum, “Nature of Abstraction”, Dillon, MT Stewart Gallery, grand opening of new gallery, Boise, ID 2007 Missoula Art Museum, contemporary art auction, Missoula, MT 2006 Fresh Paint Art Advisors, “Spring Exhibition”, Culver City, CA ”Here & Now”, Self Enhancement Organization, fundraiser for inner-city after school programs, Portland, OR The Danforth Gallery, Livingston, MT Gallatin River Gallery, summer & fall shows, Big Sky, MT Nicolaysen Art Museum, “Wild Wild West”, small works invitational, Casper, WY 2005 Nicolaysen Art Museum, Mountains-Plains juried art auction, Casper, WY The Danforth Gallery, Christmas Show, Livingston, MT Nicolaysen Art Museum, “Wild Wild West”, small works invitational, Casper, WY 2004 “Toxic Landscapes”, Puffin Foundation’s traveling exhibition, Long Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences Gallery, Loveladies, NJ UM Art Museum, juried art auction, Missoula, MT Museum of the Rockies, faculty show, Bozeman, MT “Mountains West Contemporary Art Auction”, juried, MSU-Bozeman, MT 2003 Lisa Harris Gallery, “artists shown or represented”, Seattle, WA “Art of The New West”, Dahl Arts Center, juried, Rapid City, SD “MSU Collects”, Copeland Gallery, MSU-Bozeman, MT “Mountains West Contemporary Art Auction”, juried, MSU-Bozeman, MT Yellowstone Art Museum, 34th Annual Art Auction, Billings, MT 2002 “Toxic Landscapes”, Puffin Foundation’s traveling exhibition, El Reino del Mundo Galleria en la Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti, Havana, CUBA “Seven Artists”, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID “Small Works, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT University of Montana Art Museum, juried art auction, Missoula, MT Mountains West Contemporary Art Auction”, juried, MSU-Bozeman, MT 2001 “Toxic Landscapes”, Puffin Foundation’s traveling exhibition, Rachel Carson Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; Puffin Foundation Cultural Center, Teaneck, NJ “Large Show of Small Works”, juried, Elizabeth Foundation for The Arts, award in painting, New York, NY “Womens’ Show”, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID Nicolaysen Art Museum, “Wild Wild West”, small works invitational, Casper, WY 2001-2002 Ochi Gallery, gallery representation, Ketchum, ID 2000 “Alternative Processes”, juried, Quai School of Fine Art, Wanganui, New Zealand “Contemporary Montana Artists”, Affinity Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA “New Voices New Visions”, Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA Western New Mexico University Art Gallery, faculty exchange, Silver City, NM UM-Western Art Gallery, faculty show, Dillon, MT “40 Freedoms”, invitational, UM Art Museum, Missoula, MT 1999 Hockaday Art Museum, juried art auction, Kalispell, MT 1998 Brunswick Studios, 25th annual Christmas show, Missoula, MT “Language of Ecofeminism”, invitational, University Center Gallery, Missoula, MT 1997-2001 Guggenheim Museum, “Artist Viewing Program” (of slides), New York, NY 1996 Gallery of Visual Art, juried student exhibition, Best of Show, 2D, UM-Missoula, MT. International Wildlife Film Festival Invitational, Blue Empress Gallery, Missoula, MT “AIDS and ART”, benefit exhibition, The Catalyst, UM-Missoula, MT 1995 Gallery of Visual Art, juried student exhibition, UM-Missoula, MT. Merit Award. “AIDS and ART”, benefit exhibition, Art Annex Gallery, UM-Missoula, MT 1994 “AIDS and ART”, benefit exhibition, Black Dog Cafe, Missoula, MT 1992 Helen Copeland Gallery, senior thesis show, MSU-Bozeman, MT 1991 “Four Women Four Non-Traditional Mediums”, Danforth Gallery, Livingston, MT
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Cerulean Gallery Fresh Paint Art Advisors, Culver City, CA Stellers Gallery, Jacksonville, FL Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
COLLECTIONS
The Cancer Treatment Center, Charleston, SC Spink, Butler and Clapp, LLP, Boise, ID John Madden David Quammen Dr. David Sands, Bozeman, MT Bananas Bar, interior murals, 2 locations, Lexington, KY Kevin Technologies, Corp, Birmingham, AL Ponte Vedre Inn, Jacksonville, FL Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY University of Montana Fine Arts Museum, Missoula, MT Hammer Ranch, Manhattan, MT High Plains Films, Missoula, MT Vootie Productions, Bozeman, MT
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
· Catalog: Missoula Art Museum, “Contemporary Art Auction”, Missoula, MT, 2009 · Dallas Modern Luxury, “Calendar Visual Arts”, featured image, March 2008, p.36 · Calendar: Missoula Art Museum, image on July page, Missoula, MT, 2008 · Catalog: Missoula Art Museum, “Contemporary Art Auction”, Missoula, MT, 2007 · This Week, “Oils, encaustics by Suzanne Truman”, Big Sky Publishing, Fri. Sept 23, 2005 · Catalog: Museum of the Rockies, MSU Faculty Exhibition, Bozeman, MT 2004 · Source + Design, “Color and Scale”, illustrated article on Hammer Ranch w/my large painting w/Debbie Butterfield horse sculpture, November/December, p.52, 2003 · At Home, “In the Studio with Artist Suzanne Truman”, vol. 4 no.13, Dec 30, 2003 · Catalog: Stellers Gallery, Jacksonville, FL · Seattle Weekly, preview, Seattle, WA; Nov 1st-7th, 2002 · Art Access, illustrated preview, Seattle WA; vol. 11 no. 10, p. 26, November, 2002 · The Stranger, illustrated preview, Seattle, WA; vol. 12 no. 7, Oct 31- Nov 6, 2002 · The Collegian, “Hotbed of Contemporary Artists”, illustrated interview, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT; vol. 79 no.2, Aug 2002 · Catalog: “Paisajes Toxicos”, artists examinan el ambiente, Plaza de la Revolucion, Jose Marti Biblioteca Nacional, La Habana, Cuba, 2002 · Catalog: Yellowstone Art Museum 34th Annual Art Auction, Billings, MT 2002 · Catalog: University of Montana Fine Arts Museum, art auction, Missoula, MT, 2002 · This Week, “Artist’s Work in Cuba Show”, Big Sky Publishing, Fri. Jun 21, 2002 · Catalog: Large Show of Small Work Award Winners, National Association of Women in the Arts, New York, NY, 2001 · The Tributary, illustrated interview, Bozeman, MT; Nov 2001 · “Hot Picks”, illustrated review, Salt Lake City Weekly, Aug 20, 1998 · North Woods Vision: cover, Maine, vol. 6 NL. 1998 · The Networker: cover, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, vol. 9 no.3 1997 · Cutbank 44: illustrated literary review, interior drawings, University of Montana Press, 1995 · Camas: cover, environmental writers journal, Missoula, MT. Winter 1995 · The Networker: rear cover, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, vol. 7, 1995 · High Country News, rear cover, illustrated review of Ground Zero artists’ performance, vol. 27 no. 19, 1995
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
2002-2006 Adjunct Instructor, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT: Representational Drawing Painting 205, Advanced Drawing, Independent Studies: Painting, Drawing
2000-2001 Instructor, Bealle Park Art Center, Bozeman, MT: Advanced Life Drawing
1999-2000 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Montana-Western, Dillon, MT: Representational Drawing, Advanced Life Drawing, Independent Studies: Painting, 2D Design/Color Theory, Printmaking I, Printmaking II, Photography
1998-1999 Art Teacher, Flathead Indian Reservation - St. Ignatius Middle and High School, St. Ignatius, MT
1996-1998 Instructor, University of Montana Extended Studies/Wild Rockies Field Institute: 4-8 week field courses in SE Alaska and Big Bend, TX: Art 395 -Field Journals/Reflective Thinking; 300 & 400 level courses in natural history & environmental studies; Alaska trip leader 1997.
1994-1996 Teaching Assistant, University of Montana, Missoula, MT: Drawing 123 (Instructor of Record)
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